Canada: Harper to seek regulatory middle ground at G20 financial summit

[Murrican]

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/11/14/g20-summit.html

Harper to seek regulatory middle ground at financial summit

PM recommends transparent, accountable 'peer review' mechanisms

Friday, November 14, 2008

CBC News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn't think the world's major economies will agree to an overhaul of regulations governing financial markets, but he says they should be open to increased scrutiny.

Heading to a weekend conference of the Group of 20 countries in Washington, the prime minister said leaders will be discussing the scope of possible regulations to prevent future market meltdowns, adding there are two opposing views, both of which Canada rejects.

"Canada will be seeking consensus on a communique that focuses on the world's macro economic fundamentals to restore growth, recognizes that good regulation begins at home, and supports mechanisms for peer review that are transparent and accountable," Harper told reporters in Winnipeg.

Harper said some leaders believe they should "strictly keep their own house in order," while others are seeking "wide-ranging global governance of financial markets."

"I believe the government of Canada is in neither of these camps," he said. "We actually believe that neither of these positions are feasible or realistic."

World leaders began arriving in Washington on Friday for a series of meetings over two days to discuss ways to turn around the global financial crisis.

The Group of 20 countries represents about 85 per cent of the world's economy and two-thirds of its population. Those countries include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United States and the European Union.

[Murrican]

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=ca3863c6-1176-4bc5-9945-4140fc35fc55


Harper mulls running deficit to stimulate economy, as G20 summit ends

Sheldon Alberts, Canwest News Washington
Saturday, November 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Saturday said the Canadian government is eyeing the possibility of "short-term deficit spending" as part of broader international efforts to stimulate the world economy and avoid a prolonged global recession.

At the close of the Group of 20 leaders' summit Saturday afternoon, Harper said Canada still hopes to preserve a balanced budget position but his government will act in concert with other nations if necessary to bolster the world economy.

"Look, if there is a worldwide agreement, then we will engage in sufficient stimulus to do our part in carrying global economic demand. We will fulfil our part of that agreement," Harper said at the afternoon conference.

"What we've got to be sure is that if we do short-term deficit spending as a deliberate policy - if we do that, we haven't settled on doing that, but if we do that - we will have to be able to demonstrate to Canadians that those deficits will genuinely be short-term and cyclical and we will come out of them quickly."

His comments came as G20 leaders mapped out in broad strokes a plan to improve national and international regulation of the global financial system.

In a joint declaration, the leaders said "more needs to be done to stabilize financial markets and support economic growth" as an international recession takes hold. The leaders agreed to "use fiscal measures to stimulate domestic demand to rapid effect, as appropriate" in the coming months.

The G20 leaders agreed to draft a plan for "intensified international co-operation" that would "address regulatory deficiencies" that triggered the global financial meltdown this fall. They will meet again in April, after the inauguration of Barack Obama as the next U.S. president.

[Murrican]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7731139.stm

updated at 22:00 GMT, Saturday, 15 November 2008

Summit pledge to 'restore growth'

Global leaders at the G20 financial summit in Washington have pledged to work together to restore global growth.

They said they were determined to work together to achieve "needed reforms" in the world's financial systems.

Britain's Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, said the agreements reached by leaders were "historic".

US President George W Bush said that finance ministers would now work on detailed reform proposals, and then report back.

The meeting brought together leading industrial powers, such as the US, Japan and Germany, and also emerging market countries such as China, India and Brazil - representing 85% of the world economy.

Key issues agreed by world leaders at this summit included:


reform of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund
an agreement by the end of 2008, leading to a successful global free-trade deal
improvements to financial market transparency and ensuring complete and accurate disclosure by firms of their financial conditions
making sure banks and financial institutions' incentives should "prevent excessive risk taking"
asking finance ministers to draw-up a list of financial institutions whose collapse would endanger the global economic system
strengthening countries' financial regulatory regimes
taking a "fresh look" at rules that govern market manipulation and fraud.